Thursday, December 18, 2014

Mary - Ordinary Person, Extraordinary Servant


It’s the week we reflect upon Mary in a scriptural and funeral-type way. I rarely talk about Mary the mother of Jesus. I am sure that has something to do with my Catholic friends and not wanting to cause offense just for the sake of doing it. I will admit I had one deep conversation with several Catholic families that attended our pre-school. I tried to make sure the conversation ended peacefully despite the theological debate. No point in hurting someone based upon the theological differences. That really gets us nowhere in life. Yet, despite the conflict that surrounds Mary, there is something very important to understand about her role in the Christmas story. So often the image of her in the stable gets stuck in our head and that is the only image we see. Let me just pose this question – how often have you seen a pregnant Mary? As Mindy and I get closer to the due date of our fourth child, I am reminded again of the joy/awe of a “moving” baby. My unborn daughter is not just sitting in Mindy’s stomach, but she’s kicking, and punching, and moving like crazy! I am not sure why we don’t see images of Mary like this, but it reminds us that she was an ordinary girl who God transformed into His Extraordinary Servant.

Let’s reflect on the power of the angel Gabriel’s announcement, and how it would transform Mary forever. No longer was she going to know the life she had before.  Putting that in the context of my life, it would mean one of my girls would be transformed to serve God in a unique way early in her teen years. Whoa! I can’t imagine what Mary was thinking or how she processed it all. She knew that her people had been waiting for the Messiah for years. She also had to know that based upon society’s view, being pregnant without a husband was not good. Yet, amazingly, Mary is willing to be transformed and to serve as an Extraordinary Servant!  She willingly trusted God to lead and guide her. As time went on, she (and Joseph) certainly faced the challenges of Extraordinary Servanthood. Her journey is just the beginning of the many people Jesus would transform on earth. It all started with this little kicking, moving, baby, in the womb of a girl, whose life was transformed forever because of the life inside of her.

Over the last several weeks I got to spend time with one of our members who was close to her passing, Mary Evans. Mary has been a member at Mt. Calvary for many years. She was often quiet, but when the time was right, she made her voice heard. Mary used to come to the Easy Access service – the service we hold for our shut-ins once a month so they can come to Mt. Calvary with a little more ease. A few years ago we revamped the service, adding even more traditional elements that many of them grew up with. As time passed, Mary spoke up and asked why we didn’t ever sing the Doxology? Well, now we close every Easy Access service by singing the Doxology – praise God from whom all blessings flow. As I reflect on the life of Mary Evans, I see that extraordinary servant praising God from whom all blessings flow. In one of our closing conversations we talked about the people she loved in life, and I had the chance to ask her if she was at peace. She responded she was. Mary was having extra help to breathe at this point, and these closing statements were words of praising God for all the blessings He had given her. Like Mary from scripture, we cannot anticipate the many challenges we will face in life when we are transformed by Jesus into Extraordinary Servants. Yet, we know that this is the season to prepare again for the blessing of the life of Jesus, and how we are forever changed because of His grace and mercy.

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